Combination receiver and regenerator unit for refrigerating plants



G PLANTS N. H. GAY

Aug. 15, 1933.

COMBINATION RECEIVER AND REGENERATOR UNIT FOR REFRIGERATIN Filed Jan. 6,1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l M .QQK EQRK I (Ittomegs Aug. 15, 1933. N H Y1,922,942

COMBINATION RECEIVER AND REGENERATOR UNIT FOR REFRIGERATING PLANTS FiledJan. 6, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I r J0 fwflfi, 1 ,60, 7

9g 1 {a a, 4] 1 Q --T" 3nnentor Patented Aug. 15, 1933 UNITED STATESCOMBINATION RECEIVER AND REGEN- ERATOR UNIT FOR REFRIGERATING PLANTSNorman H. Gay, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application January 6, 1932. Serial No. 585,081

17 Claims. (01. 62-115) This invention relates to improvements inrefrigerating plants, and more particularly concerns an assembly wherebycertain parts of such plants, customarily manufactured separately andconnected by piping and valves, may be combined into units whereby theamount of piping and the number of valves is reduced.

One of the features of the present invention is the provision of arefrigerating plant adapted for automatic and semi-automatic operation,and comprised of a single unit for receiving the liquid refrigerant withmeans for recovering or regenerating refrigerant medium f-rom trappedoil and foreign gas, and means for controlling the flow of liquidrefrigerant from the high pressure or condensing portion of the plant tothe low pressure or evaporating portion thereof.

Another feature of the present invention is the provision of a unit fora refrigerating system comprising a receiver and a regenerator, combinedin a single structure.

A further feature of the present invention is the provision of areceiver including a control float and valve, and a regenerator, withother associatedvparts, the receiver and'regenerator being assembled asan integral piece.

With these and other objects in view as will appear in the course of thefollowing specification and claims, an illustrative embodiment of theinvention is set forth on the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the relationship of the parts ofa refrigerating system including the present invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view, on a larger scale, of the receiver andregenerator unit.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 4 is a sectional view substantially on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figures 5 to 8 show a modified form of receiver.

Figure 8 shows a further modification in the receiver.

In these drawings, the compressor 10 receives gaseous refrigerant andpumps it, under increased pressure, through a pipe line 11 and an oiltrap 12, past a shut-off valve 13 into a condenser 14 where therefrigerant is condensed to a liquid and flows through an outlet pipe 15and shut-off valve 16 into the receiver. 1 With some types ofcondensers, e. g. some shell condensers where the lighter noncondensablegases accumulate in the condenser, such non-condensable gases may enteran outlet or purging pipe 1'7 andpass a shut-off valve 18. It will beunderstood that such gases of noncondensable nature commonly referred toas foul or foreign gases, are usually present because of impurities inthe refrigerant employed, and be-v cause of leakages from the atmosphereinto the system. These gases may be heavier or lighter than therefrigerant gas itself. In some types of condensers, both the heavierand lighter noncondensed gases pass along with the condensed refrigerantin pipe 15 to the receiver 19. With other types, as referred to above,only the heavier non-condensed gases pass forward through the pipe 15.In any event, the ultimate result in the present system is to bring thenon-condensed gases into. a regenerating coil as will be describedhereinafter.

The liquid leaving the receiver-chamber 19 is controlled by a float 20with an associated valve 44. This valve 44 is illustrated conventionallyas comprising a disc having a perforation therethrough which, accordingto the position of float 20, is in registry or out of registry with acorre-'. sponding aperture in the valve body, and thus permits or shutsoff communication between the interior of the receiver 19, through pipe44a, with the liquid refrigerant line 21, which has a shutoff valve 22for controlling communication with the evaporator. .23. The liquidrefrigerant evaporates in the evaporator 23 in known manner and thusreduces the temperature of the medium surrounding the evaporator, andthe resulting gaseous refrigerant finally escapes through apipe 24 andshut-off valve 25 back to the compressor, for a return in cycle. Anynonevaporable' liquid, such as oil, water, etc., in the evaporator isdrawn off into a trap 26 from which it may pass through a shut-offvalve27 into a common liquid purging line 28. The oil from the gaseousrefrigerant trap 12 is likewise passed through a shut-off valve 29 to apipe line 30 and thus into the common liquid purging line 28. The

pipe 28 passes the oil or other liquid contained therein through a valve31 into the upper regenerator casing or chamber 32 of thereceiver-regenerator unit. It will be understood that if it be desiredto operate independently of the float valve, as for example, if thevalve 14 become obstructed for any reason, the valve 20a may be openedto a desired degree so that the liquid may flow from thereceiver-chamber 19 through pipe 21a into pipe 21.

A gaseous refrigerant pipe 33 having a shutoff valve 34 leads from thetop of the regenerator housing 32 and communicates with pipe 24 and thuswith thecompressor 10.

As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the lower or receiver housing 19 has theclosing bottom wall and the top wall 41. The pipe 15 enters it betweenthese walls, and a bailie 42 is provided which terminates short of thetop and bottom of the same to direct the entering refrigerant liquiddownwardly and gas upwardly within the receiver, so that the liquidrefrigerant establishes a pool in the receiver, while gaseousrefrigerant as Well as non-condchsible gas may collect in the upperportion thereof. The fioat 20 is mounted on a fioat rod 43 whichcommunicates with a valve structure 44 carried by a flange 45 which isbolted to an offset 46 on the wall of the receiver. Any oil or otherheaviernoneevaporable liquid in the refrigerant liquid may settle out inthis receiver and collect in the bottom thereof, from which it may bedrawn off fromtime to time through a pipe line 47 which passes throughthe upper wall 41 and enters the housing 32 of the regenerator unit nearits top, being provided with a shut-off valve 48. The upper housing 32,containing the regenerator parts, is'fixed to the top wall 41 of thereceiver, by welding, and is closedat the top by a wall 49; The pipe 33passes centrally through the top wall'49 and thus establishescommunication with the interior of housing' 32. The gas purging pipe 17likewise passes through this top wall, and establishes communicationwith the interior of coil 50.,

"Located within theregenerator unit isa coil 50 having its lower end 51passed'through the top wall 41 of the receiver and thus establishingcommunication with the interior of the receiver. The uppere'nd 52 ofthis coil extendsthrough the wall of housing 32 and connects withashortpipe 53 having a shut-off valve 54 leading to a nipple rgeneratoranu is connected to'thecoil 50'at' an intermediatepoint of theheight thereof, so that purged gas is brought into this coil at a poinbetweenth'e top and bottomthereof.

'Adraw-ofi pipe fio'passes through the housing 32 and opens'into theregenerator near the bottom therofQc'lo'sely adjacent the top wall 41"of the receiver, andfis provided: with a shut-01f valve 61andadischargepipefizwhich(Figure 1) isillustrated as leadingto a bucket63.

The nipples maybe provided in the'r'eceiver housing andc'onnect'ed byvalves '71 with a gauge glass '72 whichiper mi ts readin g the height ofre friger'ant within the receiver. During operation ofth'e plant in itscyclefoiland'other non-evaporable liquid is separated'in the'traps{12fand 26, and inthe receiver 19; while'non-condens'able' gasisconducted from the condenserinto coil 50, either directly through 'thepur'ging pipe 17 forlight non cond'ensable gas'ajss'et'forth above, orby passage 'into the receiver 19 along with the'liquid and thenceupwardly'into'the coil end 51. During the'course of the circulation incycle, the "attendant inayopen valve 27 from time to time to relieve theaccumulated liquid'from trap 26 into pipe 28: and alternating therewiththe valve 29 may be open to cause the'relief of liquidfromthe'trap l2into thepip'e28. During this latter operation, "the pressure existing inthe compressorand condenser causes the forcing of all liquid in pipe28into theupper' or regenerator chamber 32. Normally th'e'valve 29isleftpartly open until the 'h'eat 'of gases p'assing valve 29 causes awarming of the branch pipe 30, whereupon the valve 29 is closed again.In this way the liquid is forced from pipe 28 through valve 31 into theregenerator chamber 32. As is well known, a considerable quantity of therefrigerant used is normally dissolved in the oil and other liquidseparated in the trap 26 and in the receiver l and usually also in theliquid separated at 12. The liquid from the traps, along with such gasas may develop there due to drop in pressure in line 28, causingentrained refrigerant liquid to expand, passes onward through valve31into regenerator body 32, where the process of regeneration causes therefrigerant to evaporate and pass out through line 33 and back to thecompressor, while the remaining non-evaporable liquids are drawnoffthrough line 60 and valve 61 into a receptacle 63 and disposed of.

The purged or foul gas passing through pipe 17 or to the receiver 19through pipe 15 enters the coil 50 at the bottom or a part of the heightthereof. This coil, however, is being constantly chilled by theevaporation of the refrigerant contained in the entering oily liquidwhich surrounds the coil. Refrigerant gas accompanying i thenon-condensable gas coming in contact with the interior of this chilledcoil is condensed to a liquid. Hence, the foul gas is continuously beingdeprived of its refrigerant gas content, the condenscd liquid from thislatter gas passing out 1 through the end 51 of the coil and entering thereceiver. Non-condensable'gas from the receiver or from line 17 may passcontinuously upward in the coil and thus be brought to the extreme upperend of this coil. It will be noted that by introducing the purged gasinto the coil, a storage chamber is provided in which the foul gas issubstantially quiescent and hence may befreed of its admixed refrigerantgas. From time to time the valve 54 may be opened and the foul gas 1blown off at which time any traces of refrigerant gas remaining may beabsorbed in the vessel 57. Further, it will be noted that any oilseparating in the receiver portion of the unit will be blown off uponopening the valve 48 by the pressure differences existing in thereceiver and regeneratorQand this ascends in pipe 47 and enters the topof the regenerator unit. In-the form of execution shown on the drawing,the fioat valve is limited in'its upward movement by the engagement ofthe fioat rod 43 with the inner-wall of the projection 46.

"'In disassembling the refrigerating system for repair, the variousshut-off valves'may be closed.

generator-receiver unit'by closing the valves 18, 34, 31, 16 and 22, anddisconnecting the pipes which'connect these valves with'thejunit, e. g.by separating the flanges of valvesl8. Usually, the receiver 19 iscompletely drained by opening valve 4.8{aiidclosing the inlet valve 16,-so that substantially all refrigerant is Withdrawn from the receiveritself. Priorto this operation, as is usual, the 'valves '18 and 16 areclosed and the com- Thus-it is possible "to separate the completerepres'sor operated so that all refrigerant medium 40 is p'asSed intotheportion of the system external to "the regenerator andreceiver units. Bycombining the receiver and r'egeneratorinto a single structure,then'umber of'shut oifvalves required is gr atly reduced, and therewiththe possibi1i In Figure 5 the housing 19a has the bottom wall 400. andtop wall 41a, together with the liquid inlet conduit 15, the gas outletconduit 51, the projecting tubular piece 46a having the closing wall 45in which is received the liquid refrigerant outlet line 44a from thefloat valve 44 to the conduit 21; In this construction, however, thetubular member 46a does not terminate at or adjacent the receiver wall,but extends across the receiver chamber, substantially the upper half ofit being cut away along the lines 46s. The extreme end may be joined bya welding seam 4612 to the opposite wall of the receiver 19a, while abottom aperture 46p isprovided therein between this wall and the baffle42m, which latter in the present instance extends from an upper end atwhich it obstructsthe free fall of liquid from the liquid line 15, downto the bottom of the extended portion of the tubular member 46a, towhich it may be welded. Extending upwardly from the lines 463 (Figure'7), at which the tubular member 46a was cut and joined for example bywelding to this member, are the baflie walls 42s which'extend chordally(Figure 6) across the receiver chamber and rise to a point above themaximum liquid level which is indicated by the dot-and-dash lines Maxin' Figure 5. The bafiie 4250 is joined to these walls so that a veryrigid baffle structure exists within the chamber and around the float20.

With this construction, the liquid entering from the liquid line 15comes against the baffle 42m, and the gas therein may pass upward overthe baffle walls 425, 42m and into-the upper part of the chamber, whilethe liquid moves freely downward inside of these baifle walls andthrough the aperture 46p to the bottom of the receiver chamber. As theliquid level rises in the receiver chamber, it finally overflows thebaffles and passes into the float trough formed by the walls 46a, 42s,and thus raises the float 20 and moves the float valve 44 in the mannerdescribed above. In this way, less turbulence exists within the portionof the receiver chamber external to the float trough, and hence a bettersegregation of the non-evaporable liquid may be accomplished by gravity,this liquid settling into the bottom of the chamber so that it may bewithdrawn through the pipe conduit 47. Hence, the structure leads to agreater efflciency in the separation of the of the chamber, while thevertical baflie partition 42y is substantially identical with the baffle42 of Figure 4, and preferably is secured to and stiffened by the endplate 4670, as by a weld seam 42ya.

In general, the operation of the device of Figure 8 is the same as thatof Figure 5, except that the liquid in the receiver chamber does notrise to above the maximum level before it enters the trough.

It is obvious that the invention may be modifled in many ways within thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. In a refrigerating system including a compressor, a condenser, areceiver and an evaporator and pipes for connecting the same, a gaspurging line connected to said condenser, the combination of a unitincludingsaid receiver and a regenerator, a coil within said regeneratorin communication with the upper portion of said receiver, a connectionbetween said purging line and said coil, means for introducing liquidrefrigerant into said regenerator and means for withdrawing gaseousrefrigerant therefrom, and a non-condensable gas discharge lineconnected to the upper end of said coil and including a discharge valve.

2. A refrigerating system as in claim 1, in which a trap is provided insaid system between the condenser and the evaporator for separatingnon-evaporable liquid from the refrigerant liquid, and said introducingmeans establishes communication between said trap and said regeneratorfor introducing mixed non-evaporable and refrigerant liquid into saidregenerator.

3. A refrigerating system as in claim 1, in which said gas purging linecommunicates with said coil at a point intermediate the height of saidcoil.

4. A refrigerating system as in claim 1, in which a non-evaporableliquid discharge line establishes communication between the bottom ofsaid receiver and the top of said regenerator, and a valve is located insaid liquid discharge line for closing the same.

5. In a refrigerating system including a compressor, a condenser, areceiver, an evaporator and conduits for connecting the same, thecombination of a unit including said receiver and a regenerator, a coilwithin said regenerator in communication with the upper portion of saidreceiver, a float in said receiver, a valve located in the conduitbetween the receiver and the evaporator and operated by said float,means for withdrawing gaseous refrigerant from said regenerator, and anon-condensable gas discharge line connected to the upper end'of saidcoil.

6. A receiver structure for a refrigerating system comprising a housing,a vertical partition in said housing spaced from the top and bottomthereof, a refrigerant liquid inlet line communicating with saidreceiver at one side of said partition whereby gaseous refrigerant maypass over the top of said partition and liquid refrigerant under thebottom of said partition, a float within the receiver housing at theopposite side of said partition, a conduit and a valve therein for theoutlet of liquid from said housing, a swinging float arm for connectingsaid float and valve, and means rigid with the receiver housing forlimiting the movement of said float arm.

7. A unitary receiver-regenerator structure for a refrigerating system,comprising walls providing two separate chambers at different levels,

, a coil within the upper chamber and itself communicating with saidlower chamber for providing an upward passage for refrigerating gascontaminated with non-condensable gas into said coil and downwarddrainage for refrigerant liquid out of said coil into said lowerchamber, a

,non-condensable gas discharge line leading from the upper end of saidcoil, a refrigerant gas suc tion line communicating with said upperchamber, means for introducing refrigerant liquid into said upperchamber, and means for introducing refrigerant and non-condensable gasinto said lower chamber.

8. A unitary receiver-regenerator structure as in claim 7 for arefrigerator system which includes a trap for separating non-evaporableliquid from refrigerant liquid, in which said liquid introducing meansis connected with said trap for-introducing mixed non-evaporable andrefrigerant liquid into said upper chamber and outside said coil.

9. Aunitary receiver-regenerator.structure as in claim 7 for arefrigerator system which includes a trap for separating non-evaporableliquid from refrigerant liquid, in which said liquid introducing meansis connected with said trap for introducing mixed non-evaporable andrefrigerant liquid into said upper chamber and outside said coil, andincluding means connected with the bottom of said upper ChELlIIbGI fOIwithdrawing non-evaporable liquid therefrom.

10. In a refrigerating system having a compressor, a condenser, areceiver, and evaporator and conduits for connecting the same incircuit, the combination of a regenerator housing, a coil within saidhousing and communicating with said receiver and providing upwardpassage of refrigerating gascontaminated with non-con densable gas fromsaid receiver into saidcoil and downward drainage for refrigerant liquidfrom said coil into said receiver, a non-condensable gas discharge lineleading from the upper end of said coil, a refrigerant gas suction linefor establishing communication between said housing and said compressor,means for introducing a mixture of refrigerant liquid and non-evaporableliquid into said housing, and means whereby non-evaporable liquid may bewithdrawn from said housing.

'11. A system'as in claim 10 including a purged gas line from saidcondenser for establishing communication with said coil at anintermediate point of the height thereof. a

12. In a refrigerating system having a compressor, a condenser, areceiver, an evaporator, and conduits for connecting the same incircuit, a non-evaporable liquid trap located between said compressorand condenser, a non-evaporable liquid trap located at the outlet ofsaid evaporator, a regeneratorhousing, conduits including valves forconnecting said traps with said regenerator housing, a conduit forconnecting said housing with the compressor so that said housing may beevacuated, a purged gas cooling means loca ed within'said regenerator,and a connection from said cooling means for providing pressure inducedgas fiow from and gravitational flow of refrigerant liquid into saidreceiver.

13. A refrigerating system as in claim 12, including a non-evaporableliquid discharge line from the bottom of said receiver into saidregenerator, and a valve for closing said line.

14. A'refrigerating system .having a compressor, a condenser, areceiver, an evaporator, and conduits for connecting the same incircuit, a nonevaporable liquid trap located between said compressor andcondenser, a non-evaporable liquid trap located at the outlet of saidevaporator, a regenerator housing, lines including valves for connectingsaid traps with said regenerator housing, a line for connectingsaid'housing with the compressor so that said housing may be evacuated,a purged gas cooling means located within said housing, and 'a valvedconnection from said receiver into said regenerator housing so thatpressure in said receiver will force liquid therefrom into saidregenerator housing, whereby the evacuation of said regenerator housingwill produce a refrigeration of said purged gas cooling means.

vl5. A refrigerating system as in claim 14 including a valve in theconduit from the receiver to the evaporator, and a float in saidreceiver for operating said valve.

16. A receiver-regenerator structure for a refrigerating systemcomprising walls for providing a closed receiver, means for admittingrefrigerant liquid and non-condensable gas into said receiver, means forwithdrawing refrigerant liquidv from said receiver, a heat-exchangeregenerator comprising a heat-absorbing portion and a heatyieldingportion, means for passing mixed refrigerant and non-condensable gasesfrom said receiver into said heat-yielding portion, means for admittingmixed, refrigerant liquid and nonevaporable liquid into saidheat-absorbing portion, and a suction conduit for evacuating saidheat-absorbing portion.

17. A receiver-regenerator structure as in claim '16, in which saidliquid admitting means includes a conduit in communication with saidreceiver near its bottom whereby mixed nonevaporable liquid andrefrigerant liquid may'flow from saidreceiver into said heat-absorbingportion.

NORMAN H. GAY.

